The Hunter and The Death Knight
by JGT1201
Summary: A terrible first venture and a promise between new found friends. The first in a mini series co-written with Caro666.  Read/review if it tickles your fancy.


Outland was a strange place. This was just a fact that the people of Azeroth have accepted, the beautiful sky, the drop off into the Twisting Nether where if someone got careless they would fall off to their death and of course the inhabitants of Outland. Core Bursters were a nuisance, Felboars a minor annoyance but the one thing that everyone agreed on was that everything was strange. Kaeldenas had long since accepted the strangeness of Outland, he wasn't concerned with that, many things concerned the Blood Elf but not the nature of Outland. He had his objectives, kill X amount of Fel Orcs and steal their supplies, standard stuff by now. He had forgone his helmet as usual, it stifled his vision and for a hunter that was paramount also on a much more cosmetic level it ruined the hair style he had neglected to maintain, giving him quite possibly the most unkempt crimson ponytail anyone had ever seen. Aside from that he was garbed in the full set of Warlord's Pursuit armour. The armour felt light, unusually light, sometimes he worried that in the event of any close combat it would simply crumple, he was no Warrior, Paladin or, Light forefend, a Death Knight so any kind of close up combat was not the ideal for him. Right now that was the furthest thought from his mind as he set up his shot, he had his target, a lone Orc, easy prey. His Heartstriker bow string was taught, he revelled in this moment, right before he released the arrow, the precipice of life and death balanced between his two fingers it was a bizarre thing but not one to ponder now in the midst of Hellfire Peninsula. He let his arrow fly on it's grim course and it struck true, right in the Orc's neck. The Orc's reaction was immediate, shock, horror and rage all flashed on the grim brute's face as he turned and charged, he was not a warrior however he was a worker. Kaeldenas was excellent at what he did though and before the Orc could think about how to handle the glowing Blood Elf shooting very painful projectiles at him, he had yet another arrow lodged in him, this time however it wasn't in his neck but in his head. The Orc gurgled something unintelligible before he was knocked to the ground by an unseen animal, Kaeldenas's companion, a large cat had jumped and killed the Orc, tearing out the brute's throat, ending it's life before it even managed to reach Kaeldenas.

The grim task, one of many was done expertly and precisely as usual. Kaeldenas walked over to his cat. "Good boy Tai. Bit messy but still, attaboy." He ruffled the cat's fur on his head and Tai, the very large vicious cat nuzzled his master's leg appreciatively. Yes it was another standard day in Outland, Kaeldenas was aware that he would have to pick up the pace considerably, his friend Solinor the Paladin was already storming through Icecrown being the war-hero he always was born to be, truth be told it made Kaeldenas jealous. He sighed and pushed the thought from his mind, it wouldn't do to be caught up in his reverie in this inhospitable location. He heard a sound known to all on Azeroth just over the hill. Combat. Conflict was never too far away it seemed. His natural curiosity piqued and he ventured over the hill to find to his displeasure a Death Knight locked in combat with four Fel Orcs. Her lithe frame seemed to contrast with the unholy might with which she struck her enemies, he could tell that she was a Blood Elf so his dislike for Death Knights was marginalised by the fact that she was like him, in at least some respects. He could see her ghost white hair from under the helmet she wore and her eyes shone with the blue energy used to bring her back from the clutches of death. He still felt like Death Knights went against the natural order of things but he would help this one out. As powerful as Death Knights were, they were not immortal and four enemies at once was a tall order for any adventurer. Kael quickly took stock of the enemies, one was directly being engaged by the petite elf and was close to death, another was being engaged by her ghoul who looked about as bad as the Orc it was fighting, though he couldn't tell if that was normal for the ghoul or not. Another Orc was striking the Blood Elf but at the very least he could tell that it was diseased and suffering from that. He sent Tai after that Orc, it would be taken off guard by the new threat and quickly succumb. That left Kael with the last Orc, who was viciously striking at the Elf. He exhaled and drew his bow string taught, taking careful aim and then let his arrow fly. As always the hit was perfect, right in the neck, the Orc wildly spun and saw Kael atop the small hill. He charged at the Elf and Kael smirked at the Orc's effort, pity it would amount to naught. He fired an Arcane Shot and then he saw it, that opening, the opponent was at Death's door, their defences weakened, he pulled back and launched his Kill Shot, ending the Orc in it's tracks. He quickly moved targets and killed the Orc Tai was engaging with two more shots. The other Elf had killed both her target and the ghoul's.

Now that the small engagement was over the two Elves regarded each other curiously, Kaeldenas noticed that once she removed her helmet she looked like any other Elf. Slightly shaking his belief of Death Knights being exactly the same as the Forsaken. He noticed he was staring so thought it best to attempt a conversation. "Erm… You looked like you were having some trouble there." He hoped that didn't sound too pretentious or big headed or he could have another fight on his hands. The Elf looked at the pile of bodies around them and shrugged.  
>"Thanks for that. My name is Kuronox." The Elf, Kuronox introduced herself. Her voice was strange, clearly the energy that brought her to life was deeply engrained in her, so much that it influenced her voice. It wasn't unpleasant by any means just very different. Death Knights were still a new addition to the Horde so Kael's interaction with them was limited, furthering his prejudice against them. Somewhere in the back of his mind he acknowledged that thinking like that was no better than the fanatic human who caused the Blood Elf exodus.<p>

"Well Kuronox, my name is… Kaeldenas." Kael mumbled the last part of his name, normally he just went under the name Heartstriker so giving his real name was rare but he would probably never run into this, Kuronox again so he decided that it was irrelevant, still he vehemently hated his birth name.

"What? I didn't hear you." Kuronox said leaning forward to hear. Kael groaned.

"I really don't like my name, normally I go by Heartstriker." Kael tried to explain, perhaps she would drop it if he explained…  
>"That's not your name though." Ah well, it was worth a try.<p>

"Kaeldenas. My name is Kaeldenas." He said glumly, extending a hand.

Kuronox shook his hand and he was instantly surprised, she had a vice grip that put some Tauren he knew to shame. He winced and she realised instantly that she didn't quite grasp her own strength, in battle it was easy to handle herself, there was no need to hold back but in small functions of civility where some more finesse were required it would take some time for her to reacquaint herself with the more gentile acts in the world.

"Sorry, I guess I don't know my own strength." She mumbled, the topic of her rebirth was obviously a sore one.

"Hey it's fine, no worries." Kaeldenas quickly said wishing to bring the awkward conversation to a close. The duo's pet's were watching the two intently, clearly aware that neither one was particularly sure of what to say.

"So, me and Tai, that's Tai there." Kael said pointing to his pet to illustrate his point. "We're just gonna go, y'know, kill some more Orcs and get their blood cause those guys at Thrallmar… Can't get enough of that blood hah." He turned and was already walking briskly away when he heard the noise he was desperately hoping not to hear.

"Oh that's a coincidence because I need the Orc's blood too." Here it comes. "Perhaps we could team up?" He knew this would happen, he had no valid reason to send her away either. Either than he would rather be alone, maybe it would be better off with another person to aid him. He worked hard not to growl in his throat. He turned and put on his best "pleasant face".  
>"Yes, perhaps we should, on your lead then."<p>

Their first outing as a team was… disastrous. They saw Tagar Spinebreaker and decided that he would be a suitable target, slightly stronger than the usual Orc so he was ideal for the two to see how they worked together. Kuronox and her ghoul engaged him in close combat, Kuronox was quickly forced onto the back foot and had no choice but to both defend and try to keep Tagar diseased so she could heal with her Death Strike. Kael saw her having trouble so decided it was best to end this fight quickly. He pulled his bow string and began to focus his aim, the three seconds it took him felt like an eternity but Tai had already joined the fray and was ensuring the behemoth of an Orc would not notice Kael until it was much too late. At least that was the plan. Just as Kael was ready to release his shot, Kuronox dodged out of the way of one of Tagar's blows only to jump right into the path of Kael's Aimed Shot. Which meant she now had a very powerful shot in the shoulder. She roared in pain and shot him a positively enraged look. He winced and acting quickly launched an Ice Trap at Tagar, they weren't winning this fight but they didn't have to lose either. "Fall back to Thrallmar!" He shouted and reluctantly the group made their way back to the outpost of the Horde in this barren hostile land.

Kaeldenas, Tai, Kuronox and her ghoul arrived at the inn and were greeted by Floyd Pinkus, whom was told in as many polite words to kindly keep his enquiries to himself and leave them be, it was lucky he didn't call the guards on them. Kael sat Kuronox in front of him, and began the process of removing the arrow with his fairly adequate knowledge of First Aid. He handed her another arrow and instructed her to bite down on it, now Kael's arrows were very high quality and very expensive so it came as a surprise to him to hear it snap like a twig when he started to pull the arrow from Kuronox's shoulder. She glanced guiltily at him and reiterated that she didn't quite grasp her own strength. "Forget it." Kael said, feeling that getting angry after nearly killing her wouldn't be the most, gentlemanly thing to do. After what felt like an eternity he was able to prise the arrow from Kuronox's shoulder, he gasped when a droplet of her blood trickled onto his hand, it was bitterly cold. Hastily he finished wrapping her wound, he had no idea that Death Knight's blood was that cold, he didn't know anything about them really. He decided that if he was going to be travelling with a companion at the very least it would be polite to enquire about her past.  
>"So, Kuronox. Do you… That is to say… How did… Oh, what happened to lead you here?" Kael finally blurted out. Kuronox laughed at his awkward fumbling, conversation was obviously not his strong point. Her laughter subsided quickly, she supposed it would only be good to talk about her past, get it off her chest.<p>

So she told him, her life, how like him she was a hunter, not a marksmanship specialist like him, no she preferred the survival skills but still she loved it. Then she died, fell to the Scourge like so many other heroes but that wasn't the end of her story, he reanimated her, forced her into his service. Arthas, the source of her pain, anger and hate. It wasn't an easy story to tell, Kaeldenas could see that much, Arthas had ruined her life twice, ransacking Silvermoon and then directly sentencing her to this kind of hellish servitude to him. As they sat in the inn by the large fire in the centre, Kaeldenas found himself pitying the Death Knights, this was not as he believed originally a power mad quest they sent themselves on, they were the most unfortunate of all to deal with the Scourge, the ones who managed to die and stay dead were fortunate, Kuronox and the Knights of The Ebon Blade, they had to suffer horrible things and it made his heart heavy to hear of how Arthas's will was directly imposed on them, mercy is for the weak he would say just when Kuronox began to even think about what she was doing.

By the end of her story, when Highlord Fordring himself showed up and redeemed them all, he knew now what she had to deal with, not just the weight of her actions, which she had not been in control of in the first place, not the loss of her old life which is still a terrible injustice but also the scorn, the unmitigated contempt from the Horde that she gave her life to protect. Kael sighed and put his hand on Tai's head, stroking it thoughtfully as he did during intense contemplation. Kuronox sat in silence, the only sounds were the crackling of the fire and the deep purring from Tai. When Kael spoke up it was like a clattering cacophony of sound shattering the silence of the inn.  
>"I am sorry." He started, Kuronox looked inquisitively at him so he continued on. "I am sorry for all that has transpired and everything that has befallen you, the treatment of the Horde was deplorable, the Horde you fought for, the Horde that was supposed to be the haven to all outside of the Allliance. Well Kuronox, I am personally sorry for having judged the Death Knights, I'm no better than the Horde and the Alliance, so I'll say now that at the very least Tai and I will help you get revenge on Arthas, the monster who has destroyed so many lives, if nothing else, we will avenge our homeland and the life you once led my friend."<br>Kuronox smiled and once again extended her hand, Kael grinned and the two had a firm handshake, truly the beginning of a strong friendship.


End file.
